Jennie Jones

This Aussie author's books offer "passion and adventure in some of the most beautiful and intriguing places in the world" and the one I want to showcase is rural romance, Red Dust Dreaming.

It's my pleasure to welcome Eva Scott!

​“Eva Scott writes contemporary romance set in her homeland of Australia and historical fiction set in the Ancient World. Her books offer passion and adventure in some of the most beautiful and intriguing places in the world. Her heroes and heroines are strong, sassy and ready to rise to their challenges, and learn a little bit about themselves along the way.”

Eva writes contemporary romance set in her homeland of Australia and historical fiction set in the Ancient World. (Don't you love that diversity?)

I asked Eva to share an excerpt from Red Dust Dreaming which has ranked tremendously wellon all the charts!Fortunately, I caught her between writing, cooking, looking after the boys in her life, practicing yoga and getting out on the bay on her stand-up paddle board ツ

In the battle of duty versus desire, only one can survive the hot Australian sunshine.

Elizabeth Langtree’s has her life in order – safe, organised, planned. Sure, she has her troubles, but they are nothing she can’t handle. Then everything is turned upside down when her family send her to Australia to collect her orphaned nephew.

It all seemed so simple in New York, but Australia is nothing like she expected, and she soon falls under the spell of the Outback – the station, the lifestyle, and the seriously sexy owner who has been caring for Luke since the death of his mother.

Elizabeth soon discovers that what seemed simple a world away is anything but, and her duty is at odds with the dictates of her heart.

She must choose, knowing that a mistake will not only cost her everything, but destroy the future of a devastated little boy.

Over to Eva...

It’s funny what inspires a story, how one thing can lead to another.

My mother happened to have a friend who was a Professor of Art History, and an expert on Aboriginal art, who had curated an exhibition at the Queensland Art Gallery. My mother, having had a private tour, took me along and educated me on the finer points of the art form. It was entirely fascinating.

The Warlukurlangu Artists, based at Yuendumu in the red heart of Australia, produce the most amazing work.

Captivated I started writing a story about a woman, an artist, who rediscovers her passion while visiting the art community. Not only does Elizabeth reclaim her artistic self she also learns how to be true to herself.

Red Dust Dreaming is a novel about losing your dreams, and finding them again. It’s about what makes a family – and that sometimes you can find love in the most unexpected places.

Excerpt from Red Dust Dreaming by Eva Scott

Elizabeth slid into the car seat with a sigh. Thank god that was over! She’d been dreading the first meeting with Caden Carlyle, aware she was very much on the back foot. The sun pressed against her skin with an unfamiliar heaviness. She’d stocked up on high factor sun block to protect her fair skin after reading all the warnings about sun exposure in the travel blogs. What everyone failed to mention was the radiance of the place; the way the sky vaulted overhead scattering the light so it fell with a peculiar intensity upon everything it touched.

The other thing that struck her was the silence. Apart from the sound of the men sorting out her luggage, talking low, there was nothing but the wind as it skipped over the scraggy bushes, snagging on branches as it went. She ran a finger along the edge of the window and a fine layer of red dust came away. How on earth did anyone cope with this? The entire landscape comprised of red dirt, relentless and inescapable.

While she waited she thought of Angela out here in the middle of nowhere. Had her sister loved this place? This man? Elizabeth shimmied down a little in her seat and sought Caden out in the car’s side mirror. She caught glimpses of him as he came and went loading boxes and bags into the Ute. He looked different from his photo somehow. More rugged. More masculine. The camera hadn’t captured the essence of the man. Broad muscular shoulders strained under his cotton shirt. His forearms were burnished brown by long years in the sun. She wondered how much else of him might be the same colour.

He stood talking to the pilot. Their words were lost on the wind. He laughed at something the other man said, his face free from the stern coldness which had greeted her. For a moment she wished he would look at her with the same warmth. His eyes were the most extraordinary colour, like burnt toffee. He’d looked at her as if she’d crawled out from under a rock and he was deciding whether to stamp on her or not. Yet she’d been unable to look away. She found him…. compelling. Yes, that’s what he was. Nothing more, nothing less.

Elizabeth hadn’t been prepared for the force that was Caden. Clearly the private investigator had never actually met the man. Caden Carlyle was so much more than the report indicated. A quiet power radiated off him; impossible to be ignored. No doubt he was going to be a strong adversary if rubbed up the wrong way. Elizabeth understood the trickiness of the situation. Luke had grown up here, never having known any other home in his short lifetime. And here she was, the alien aunt no one had ever heard of, turning up to take him away forever. She didn’t blame Caden if he hated her on sight.

Thank you Eva!

If you love rural romance (and of course you do!) why not give Red Dust Dreaming a try?

I love the premise of this story - the little boy, the woman sent to take him away and the compelling man who has been caring for the boy until this moment...

Another reason I'm thrilled to showcase Eva and Red Dust Dreaming is that the book is now part of a 3-in-1 Bestselling Australian rural storiespaperback alongside Rachael Johns with Outback Ghost and my own book The House at the Bottom of the Hill.